


lluvia

by gh0steses



Category: BlazBlue
Genre: is this angst? who knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 03:08:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18274556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0steses/pseuds/gh0steses
Summary: The pain brings an uncomfortable, choking, hot feeling through his chest, and it takes a minute for him to stop gasping for breath. “I- ugh- 'm fine. That thing's hooked into the nerves of my shoulder. Hurts to take it off and put it back on.”





	lluvia

**Author's Note:**

> Slight Liberties Taken  
> ie kokonoe said someone told her to give ragna an arm and she called them an old friend and she wouldn't say that about jubei and she and kagura need him for shit therefore. maybe it was him  
> in this house ragna suffers more than he deserves which is at all  
> why have i finished so many things this month including things i just started. wild

The coolness of the window pane against his temple is the first thing Ragna registers when he wakes up. The second is an unrelenting pain piercing both his shoulders, which makes him groan in discomfort. He doesn't realize why he's in pain until he's awake enough to realize that it's raining. Phantom pain. Lovely. Ragna sits up, stretching his legs out in front of him. He's in the window seat at the end of the hall, and he'd fallen asleep reading. He grumbles to himself when he realizes he lost his place, but that's the least of his problems right now. His attention is diverted to Kagura emerging from his office to stretch. Ragna isn't sure how long he slept, but it was probably longer than Kagura's been in his office.

“Look who's awake.”

“Can it,” Ragna says halfheartedly. “Hey, come here. Do you think you could, like… help me take my arm off?” There are panels on either side of his arm that he has to press to remove it, and, while possible, it's a pain in the ass to do with one hand.

Kagura blinks, trying to process that statement. He forgets that Ragna even has a prosthetic, and _he's_ the one that asked Kokonoe to help him in the first place. “Oh. Yeah, sure.”

Ragna's eyes narrow. “What's with that look?”

Kagura stops to consider his statement, then decides Ragna wouldn't be bothered if he were blunt. “I forget that your arms are gone sometimes.”

Ragna barks a short but melancholy laugh. “So do I.” He unbuttons his shirt and pulls his left arm out. “Push here,” he says, pointing to a spot on the back of his shoulder. Kagura does as asked and Ragna pushes a spot on the front, both sides yielding with a soft click. He takes a moment to steel himself. “Pull.” Kagura complies again, slowly starting to pull harder when it clearly isn't enough. Ragna's arm stays as if kept by a strong magnet, but gives way after a moment and goes limp in Kagura's hand as Ragna yells in pain, clutching his shoulder. His legs reflexively come up to his chest and he rocks back and forth fruitlessly to try and mitigate the pain.

“Shit, are you okay?” Kagura sits across from Ragna and lays his arm across his lap. He almost reaches out toward him, but he's not sure what he could help with. He's not even sure what just happened. It's weirdly intimate to hold someone's prosthetic arm on a much different level than anything Kagura's experienced.

The pain brings an uncomfortable, choking, hot feeling through his chest, and it takes a minute for him to stop gasping for breath. “I- ugh- 'm fine. That thing's hooked into the nerves of my shoulder. Hurts to take it off and put it back on.” Ragna's voice is strained from the searing pain of his brain thinking his arm got ripped off. As much as it hurts, the stump of his shoulder hurts less when the pressure of his prosthetic is gone. Thankfully, it doesn't often give him any problems.

“Why take it off then?” Kagura can't even imagine what that felt like. It's clearly not a mild pain. Ragna's face is pale and sweaty, contorted the slightest bit in agony, and Kagura's worried he might be sick. “You really don't look okay, babe.”

The pain slowly but steadily starts to fade. “I told you, I'm fine.” Ragna relaxes from where he'd curled in on himself, letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding through clenched teeth. “Rain makes my stumps hurt. It hurts less if my arm is off.”

Kagura purses his lips. Kokonoe isn't renowned for her people skills, but… “Isn't it cruel of Kokonoe to make it that painful, though?”

“Well, I like having an arm that can move and feel. So I guess it's worth it.” To be fair, the only reason knows that is because he passed out the first time Kokonoe took it off for maintenance. She explained it because she saw his panic as ungratefulness. “And if she somehow made it hurt worse, she's just a bitch.” The only downside to his arm being off is that he can't rub his right shoulder. Even though he has a permanent appendage, as the Azure Grimoire moved up his arm it brought a wave of pain with it wherever it touches his skin when it decides to flare up. He can't do much about the ache in the few of his ribs it's touching, doubly so because of his lack of an arm. The pain in his left shoulder has faded to match his right, jagged stabs of pain from limbs that aren't there anymore. Frustration wells within him. He hates this. If not for Terumi, he wouldn't have to deal with this because he'd still have his arms. He focuses on this so seldom that he starts to spiral into rage until Kagura interrupts.

“Can I help?” Kagura says softly. This isn't something he ever thought about dealing with. Feeling powerless when someone you love is hurting, physically or not, is agonizing. Ragna's presented these kinds of heart wrenching scenarios more than Kagura could've anticipated, but he feels the need to support him in any way he can.

“…A massage would be nice.” He almost feels bad asking. This isn't Kagura's problem.

“C'mere, then.” Kagura pats the space between his legs and Ragna adjusts himself to recline against his chest. Kagura moves his arm aside and takes his shirt off the rest of the way. Ragna watches rain hit the window pane as Kagura rubs his shoulders. “Does this help?” he asks softly, letting his cheek rest on top of Ragna's head. Ragna grunts in assent, relaxing against him. There are knots in Ragna's shoulders that must be painful on their own; in his left especially, no doubt because of his prosthetic.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, listening to the rain, until Ragna murmurs, “Thanks, by the way.” Kagura's hands have reduced his pain to a faint ache, which is better than Ragna could do on his own.

“Of course.” Kagura slides his hands over Ragna's shoulders, draping them over his chest. “Just glad I could help.”


End file.
